Barnes & Noble
by Tishatashtosh26
Summary: Set after civil war but before infinity war, because honestly I just want them all happy. No one has died and everyone is getting on again after bridges have been rebuilt. Set in the avengers tower instead of the avengers compound just because its better for the story! First fan fic I've ever written so be kind! Weekly updates. Possibly sooner depending on time.
1. Chapter 1

You sighed as you slid into the elevator besides the other waiting staff at the stark tower- here to cater yet another one of Tony's parties. This was your first day at work and talk about a high pressure first day. You had already managed to infuriate your manager Michelle by turning up with the wrong shoes on and by accidentally forgetting a crate of high priced champagne that was to be used later in the evening for a toast. All of which had meant the entire staff were now late. You stood awkwardly sandwiched between Michelle and an equally anxious staff member whose name tag read Damien. You hadn't had chance to introduce yourself to the rest of the staff yet, what with all the rushing around and apologies but you could only assume it was his first day too.

You were here because on a whim you had decided that enough was enough and had uprooted yourself from (Your home town) and taken yourself and a couple of bags to the big apple. You loved the hustle and bustle of city living and the small town life you were accustomed to just didn't sit well with you. You needed more. You craved it. So here you were. It had been hard, you'd only been here a few weeks and already you were aware of how much you'd misjudged the ease of which you could just move to New York. Jobs were hard to come by especially when your resume consisted of various short term unskilled work. You'd applied for at least two dozen jobs and this was the first gig you'd been given. You were thankful for anything, the bills were piling up in your small basement apartment an hour out of the city and the money you'd brought with you as a buffer had pretty much disappeared. You had to make this work, your family had been anything but supportive of your plans, all of them content with their small time life is (your home town) and the last thing you wanted to do was go crawling back to them having failed to accomplish your dream.

The elevator reached its destination and you all piled out into the shiniest hallway you had ever seen. You blinked a few times allowing your eyes to adjust to the bright lighting and shiny floors before following the rest of the group to one of the catering kitchens.

2 hours later the party was in full swing and it was insane. It was a 40s themed party, the entire building had been kitted out with memorabilia and those attending were smartly dressed in clothing fitting to the era. You could only imagine the theme had something to do with captain America's return to the avengers. You didn't know the ins and outs of it, but the avengers had broken up for a while following a disagreement on the accords, but it seemed that this was now in the past and the aim for this evening was definitely to have fun. You had already spotted most of the avengers around; iron man, black widow, Hawkeye, iron patriot, ant man, Scarlett witch and vision. Thor and a man who you knew to be the winter soldier were stood by the bar in deep conversation. You tilted your head in confusion as your eyes scanned the "winter soldier". He was striking to say the least, especially in the 40s army uniform he was clad in. His long dark hair shadowed his face slightly but his strong jaw line could not be disguised. The last thing you heard the winter soldier was a bad guy so his presence definitely came as a surprise. You took a deep breathe as you pulled your gaze away from him only to find your eyes locked back onto him not two seconds later. "Wow get a grip" you scolded yourself as you turned abruptly away to gain some self control only to walk straight into a blonde woman wearing a stunning purple dress. The tray of champagne you had been holding in your hand slid from your grasp, and you watched in slow motion as the golden liquid cascaded down the delicate material of the ladies dress, the glasses bouncing off of the glossy floors and smashing into thousands of pieces with a loud crash.

The whole party froze, all of their eyes focused in on you. You gasped in both shock and despair muttering as many apologies as you could, your eyes meeting those of the woman whose dress you had spoiled.

"I am so sorry" you cried, your brain still trying to catch up with the situation.

Her eyes darkened and you could see the anger boiling up inside of her, her tone was sharp and clear as she scolded you.

"Are you blind? Oh god, it's ruined, ruined" she threw her hands up in the air dramatically as your manager Michelle rushed to see what the commotion was about.

"I'm so sorry, let me help you, I wasn't looking it was totally my fault" you almost vomited out as you tried to fix the situation.

"Of course it was your fault" you heard Michelle curse.

You were immiedatly on you knees picking up the larger pieces of glass as you continued to mutter apologies.

Most of the party had thankfully become bored with the spectacle and returned to whatever they were doing previously.

Your cheeks burned red with embarrassment as some of the other staff came to take over the clean up. You stood up again pushing the loose stands of hair out of your eyes just in time to catch the end of the conversation between the stranger whose dress you'd ruined and Michelle.

"I'm so very sorry agent carter, we will cover your dry cleaning bill and of course be rest assured miss (y/l/n) will not be catering the rest of the party" Michelle said clipping her words

"-what?" You almost whispered, your eyes meeting hers

She spun in her heel now so she could speak to you directly

"You're fired, take off your badge and leave it in the kitchen, you can collect the rest of your things tomorrow" she spat

Your eyes widened, your face still burning from the shame of Bringing tony starks party to a halt.

"Michelle please, it was a mistake, it won't happen again. I need this job, please don't fire me, I'll do better... " you spluttered out. She wasn't even listening, her face hard and her head shaking almost continuously as she dismissed you with a flick of her wrist.

You took a step back taking in your surroundings one more time. Not able to take the embarrassment any longer you bolted. Back through the party trying to hold yourself together until you could find somewhere to be alone. You skidded into the hallway at the back of the kitchen just as the tears started to spill. You'd blown it again. You knew you wouldn't be able to last much longer in New York without a job. It was over. On top of that you'd just humialited yourself in front of the avengers, THE AVENGERS!. You shook your head as you cursed at yourself, beating yourself up like you always did.

The noise of someone's throat being cleared shook you from your self pity, your head shooting up in surprise to come face to face with captain America himself. He swallowed your breath immediately feeling the need to stand up straight. You quickly wiped away your tears pushing your hair out of your face as you let out a shaker breath.

"Tough night?" He questioned , his deep tones like music to your ears.

"You could say that" you replied a nervous laugh escaping.

He nodded shifting a little so he could lean his body against the door frame

"I'm sorry, I was just leaving..." you explained as you reached for your bag, realising you had probably out stayed your welcome.

"You know-" he interjected "you don't have to leave"

You froze mid bad retrieval, your brows raising in confusion and surprise as you waited for him to continue

"You've had a rough night, why not turn it around. Come to the party. As a guest. Tony won't mind and I saw how your boss spoke to you, might be nice to show her you don't need her job" he suggested his icy blue eyes piercing into you.

You met his gaze for as long as you could, the less confident part of you dragging your gaze away before you could get too comfortable

"I don't know... " you looked down at your champagne covered work clothes " it's very kind of you captain but I'm not really dressed for it..." then came the nervous laughter again.

He gave you a warm smile as he straightened up from the door frame, his hands sliding into his pockets

"We can fix that" he explained thoughtfully "-wait here"

And he was gone. You inhaled deeply unsure of how to react to the situation that was unfolding. Had captain America just invited you to Tony Stark's party as a guest?! Maybe things were finally looking up. You had barely recovered from your last encounter with him when he returned with another familiar face. Black widow, Natasha Romanov. You swallowed thickly as your eyes flicked between them. They both seemed to be eyeing you up before the captain turned to Natasha.

"Think you've got something" he asked arms folding across his broad chest.

"Sure" Natasha said Cooley with a shrug, she met your eye a half smile flicking across her features "-follow me"

You looked between them "uhm-...okay " you agreed quickly. Natasha led you away from the captain, through various different corridors until you reached What you assumed to be her living quarters.

The red head turned to you briefly before entering

"If you ever tell anyone I let you in my room, I will hunt you down" she said with a soft smirk.

You nodded nervously

"Sure... of course" you muttered

She let out an easy laugh

"Relax, I'm kidding, come on in and take a seat while I find you something to wear".

—-

Half an hour later and Natasha was marching you back towards the party like a trophy she wanted to show off. She was proud of her work and you had to admit she'd done a pretty good job. In the end you'd gone for a fitted lace navy number, with an off the shoulder neck line. The hem fell just below your knees and it hugged you in all the right places.

She had forced you to take your hair down and managed to tame it into soft curls. Correcting your makeup after the tears where she saw fit. You didn't share her shoe size but she still had some of wandas that she'd left behind and swore she wouldn't mind if you wore them.

You felt uncomfortable returning to a party you hadn't actually been invited to, especially after causing such a seen as a member of staff earlier in the evening. Natasha bumped you gently with her shoulder for support

"Come on, let's go show the captain our work" she drawled as you entered the main area of the party.

_—

You glanced around anxiously at the party in full swing glueing yourself to Natasha's side not wanting to find yourself abandoned in this sea of high profile people.

You were half way across the room when Michelle stomped up to you angrily, making a point of clicking her heels as she walked.

"Y/n!?" She half questioned as she took hold of your arm, her grip tightening as her glare met yours.

Natasha stepped between you mimicking Michelle's action by taking hold of Michelle's wrist

"Lets not make a scene..." she whispered, her voice lowering.

Michelle released your arm but continued on with her rant all the same.

"I told you to go home, your fired and no amount of begging or pleading is going to change that" she hissed stepping to the side of Natasha so she could scold you better.

"Actually-" started natasha "Y/n has been upgraded to guest status."

Michelles expression changed to one of confusion and finally suprise as she looked between the former assassin and her former employee

"I'm sure Mr stark would love to hear how his catering team are speaking to his guests." She continued stepping between Y/n and Michelle once more.

Michelle opened her mouth to respond but found no words. She huffed, her face reddening as she spun on her heel marching back the way she'd come from.

You smiled thankfully at Natasha

"Thank you, I don't know what I'd have done without you" you admitted allowing yourself a sigh of relief.

Natasha shrugged

"Dont sweat it— now come, lets get you a drink" she mused as she led you over to the bar.

You were surprised when instead of taking the seat beside you, Natasha slid in behind the bar.

"What will it be" she asked raising a brow "I make a mean Moscow mule" she admitted.

"Perfect" you admitted with a nod of your head "to be honest anything with alcohol in it will do right now"

she nodded with a tight smile and got to work. You could tell from the short time that you had spent with Natasha that she was a closed book, she never gave too much away but there was to say the least a kind heart behind all the sarcasm and sexiness.

A man approached the bar, not a man you recognised but natasha seemed to know him. You could tell from the way her body language changed that this was someone she knew well.

"Bruce" she addressed the man. This allowed you put two and two together, this must be Bruce banner AKA the hulk.

"Hey Nat" he responded taking a stool a few seats away from you. Natasha introduced you briefly before sliding over to that side of the bar and leaving you floundering around on your own. You sighed softly to yourself as you took a few large gulps of your Moscow mule and damn it really was good.

Just as you went back for another taste you felt a presence beside you. You allowed yourself a glance to your right and froze when your eyes met that of the captains for the second night tonight.

"You made it back then..." he acknowledged propping himself against the bar rather than taking a seat, the sleeves of his shirt were up on his forearms, the material tight before his elbow due to the sheer amount of muscle.

"captain rogers..." you breathed allowing a small smile to form on your lips.

"Steve is fine.." he interrupted.

"Steve" you said with a nod, it felt strange calling him steve, almost too personal but you could see his shoulders relax as the formalities were dropped so you would go with it.

"Thank you for before" you continued "It was really kind of you to invite me"

"Don't worry about it" he replied leaning over the bar to grab a beer from the ice bucket "couldn't let you leave like that, not after how your boss spoke to you. That was out of line"

You nodded taking another mouthful of your drink, the scent of his cologne going to your head a little. You allowed your eyes to wander around the party.

"Well I appreciate it, although I probably should get going soon." You admitted "Ill have to be up early to start applying for jobs"

He winced slightly in acknowledgment of your situation.

"Yeah New York can be tough right?"

"Yeah you could say that" you agreed

"I'm guessing your not from round here?" He asked obviously picking up on your accent.

"That obvious?" You asked running a hand through your curls.

He let out an easy laugh and you couldn't help but stare. The way his face lit up when he laughed was infectious. You found yourself mirroring his smile.

"you could say that" he chuckled

"I moved here a few weeks ago" you explained "I'd had enough of living in a small town, you know. Needed something more. The thought of settling down with every day the same just doesn't appeal to me like it does my friends and family"

He raised a brow "the quiet life" he muttered as he eyed up the beer he was slowly warming with his hands "doesn't sound too bad to me" he challenged.

You smiled considering his situation, you - like the rest of the world knew about captain americas history and the tragedy of his early life.

"yeah I guess it doesn't" you relented in understanding.

There was a small pause and you could tell he had become lost in his own thoughts so you decided to lighten the conversation.

"So I'm guessing the theme is in your honour?" You guessed finishing the rest of your drink.

"Yeah uhm Tony wanted to welcome us back" his eyes met your again "Not just me, Bucky too" he said nodding over to the winter soldier stood with Wanda at the other side of the party.

So that was his name, you realised leaning over the bar in imitation and taking a beer.

He raised a brow a small smirk sliding across his features as he watched you relax in front of him.

"Bucky." You stated "Formally the winter soldier?" You asked turning your entire body towards him now as you relaxed in to conversation.

Steve winced in response and you worried you may have pried too far.

"That wasn't him" he said plainly taking another swig of his beer before continuing "Hydra had control of his mind" he explained briefly.

You nodded in understanding "Wow, poor bucky" you said, the tone in your voice filled with compassion.

Steve smiled again at you as you spoke kindly of his friend, a friend so mis understood to so many. He was taken back that after all the negativity surrounding his best friend in the media you were quick to see the good side of him without having even spoken to him.

Your eyes made contact again both just drinking each other in, the silence somehow comfortable.

You were about to ask more about Bucky when the blonde woman in purple, agent carter , you think ,slid into view beside steve.

"Steve ..." she complained gripping onto his forearm until his forced his gaze away from yours.

"Come" she almost demanded "the girls and I need you to settle an arguement for us.." she explained as she pretty much dragged him away from the bar.

He didn't speak a word to her as he steadied himself his eyes meeting yours once more.

"I'll see you around" he said with a apologetic shrug.

You smiled "Ill see you around" you repeated, but he'd already gone.

You suddenly realised you had barely taken a breath the whole time he had been by your side. For a man you'd only just met he'd certainly caught your attention.

Tony stark wandered over to you confusion plastered on his face.

"Say, I like the staff to be comfortable but maybe your pushing boundaries just a little?" He quizzed not unkindly.

"Sorry Mr stark, I actually got fired and uhm...capta...steve invited me to join you...and then natasha leant me this dress and then..." he put his hands up to stop you "I can go ..." you finished hoping off your stool.

"No no no...what was your name again? " he asked "Sarah, candice, Britney..."

"Y/N" you cut in quietly.

"Right y/n" he said with a nod pretending he had known all along. Not that you had expected him to even recognise you from the huge amount of staff at the party. But then you were the one who had thrown champagne everywhere so that figured.

"Jobless huh?" He asked, becoming thoughtful as he eyed you up. You nodded quickly in reponse allowing yourself to slide hesitantly back onto the stool you'd previously occupied.

"Any receptionist experience?" He questioned "you know phones, files...that kinda stuff"

He didn't even give you time to answer

"Great so you can start Monday?"

Again he waited for no response.

"Ill have my guys call your guys..." he said with a light chuckle at his own joke.

"Ive been meaning to hire someone for a while now and now I don't have to go through millions of applicants" he said with a growing smile "win win right?"

"It was nice to meet you...Y/n" he finished and with that he was gone.

You blinked a couple of times, your mind racing. What the hell was going on. This night was getting better and better. You'd spent time getting to know both black widow and captain America and now tony stark himself had offered you a job in the tower.

You were still smiling away to yourself when two guys approached the bar chatting loudly to each other one of them being the winter solider or bucky as you now knew him to be called.

"Yeah yeah yeah..." bucky laughed as he patted his friend on the shoulder.

"Hey nat" the other guy piped up "What does it take to get a drink around here?"

Natasha looked up from her conversation with Bruce

"Sam speak to me like that again and you may just find out" she said, her voice soft, more relaxed than earlier in the night.

The guy who you now knew to be Sam laughed along with her as he jumped over the bar to help himself and bucky to some drinks. you finished your beer and pushed it to the side glancing back around the party unsure if you should stay or leave now those who had invited you were preoccupied.

"Haven't seen you here before" you suddenly heard from behind yo. You spun back round on your chair to come face to face with Sam- still behind the bar.

"I...uh...no" you started

"Can I get you another drink?" He asked nodding to your finished beer.

Natasha had now come around the other side of the bar and was stood to your right.

"This is Y/n, she had a rough night so steve invited her...you know how he is" she explained quickly

"Ahhhh okay, now that makes sense. Here" he passed you another beer and you gladly took it.

"Y/n, this is Sam aka the falcon and this here is bucky Barnes" you could she was deciding whether or not to reveal his past identity as the winter solider, but thought better of it.

To your surprise bucky closed the gap between him and yourself and held his hand out to you.

"It's nice to meet you y/n" he said, his voice low but smooth. Your cheeks warmed as your eyes met his. He really was breathtaking to look at.

"It's nice to meet you too..." you whispered with a smile, your voice getting lost somewhere. Natasha eyed Sam and they shifted a little bit over to the right to continue a conversation away from you and bucky.

It was an hour later when bucky finally plucked up the courage to ask you to dance.

You almost choked on your drink in response.

"I'd love too..."

He slid from his stool holding his hand out to you. You took it and he immediately slid it through his arm resting your hand on his forearm as he led you to the dance floor. Bucky Barnes had game. That was for sure. After all he'd been through you hadn't expected him to be such a smooth talker.

You slid your arms around his neck and felt his hands make contact with your waist. You hid the shiver that ran up your spine at the contact and chewed on your lip lightly.

"Your a really good dancer..." he whispered leaning down so his breath was warm on your neck. Another shiver ran through you.

"Thanks" you blushed "If I'm honest in kinda winging it" you admitted

he laughed tilting his head to the side

"Well your doing a great job, doll"

Your eyes widened at the word "doll". Okay so that was the cutest thing ever, and it sounded so sexy coming from him. You felt like you'd been blushing for the past hour and it just kept coming as he held you close to him.

Your eyes fell behind him and immiediatly made contact with Steve's. You looked away quickly the look on his face ingrained in your mind. He looked hurt, upset almost or maybe disappointed. You chanced another look to see Sharon sat to the side of him chatting away at him. He wasn't paying attention, he was looking at you. You looked away again and back at bucky clearing your throat.

"Uhm...I'm just going to the ladies..." you said suddenly slipping from his grasp and making your way through the crowds and out into the hallway.

After your trip to the ladies you'd found a quiet spot outside on the balcony to get some air and take in the last few hours to decide whether or not this was actually happening. You'd benn out there about 5 minutes when steve stepped out next to you closing the door behind him.

"Y/n?" He questioned following your gaze out across New York.

"Hey steve..." you acknowledged allowing a quick glance to him before returning to admire the skyline.

"You know Bucky was worried when you disappeared earlier..." he began. You froze a little, you hadn't meant to cause concern when you'd left Bucky on the dance floor earlier.

"He was? Sorry...I became distracted" you admitted

He didn't speak but you could feel him shift next to you, closing the gap slightly.

"I'm sorry Sharon interrupted our conversation earlier..." he began

"Oh no, its fine...your girlfriend had every right to pull you away" you interjected attempting to be as subtle as possible and still get the answers you needed.

He picked up on it and it definitely hadn't come out as subtly as you'd have liked.

"Not my girlfriend..." he confirmed before pausing having an battle within his own mind "...it's complicated.." he finished.

You nodded releasing a slow breath as you tried to gather your thoughts unsure of what to say in response.

"Your a good dancer..." he said, his voice low as he changed the subject.

You smiled , this was the second time you'd had your dancing complimented tonight.

"Thanks, I noticed you didn't spend any time on the dance floor..." you commented finally allowing yourself to face him trying to steady your breathing as you felt the magnetic pull you felt towards him every time your eyes met.

His stance changed and he almost closed up as he spoke his next words.

"No. You could say I'm waiting for the right partner" he breathed, starting to get lost in his thoughts once more.

There were a few more seconds of comfortable content silence before either of you spoke again.

"It seems Ill be seeing a lot more of you Capt...steve"

He was knocked out of his thoughts, straightening himself, his eyes sparkling with perhaps hope as he waited for you to continue.

"Tony offered me a job..." you explained your tone filled with optimism, a huge difference from the Y/N he'd met at the start of the evening.

"I start Monday" you declared, a now huge beaming smile lighting up your features. He mirrored your smile as he slid out of his jacket placing it over your shoulders.

"I'm happy for you doll, really, I'm glad your night turned around" his fingers made contact with your shoulders as he placed his jacket over you, each touch sending a bolt of electricity through your body. You hadn't even noticed how cold you were untill now- and there was that word again. "Doll". Man that word did things to you.

"Thanks" you said gesturing to his jacket, the gap between you had apparently pretty much disappeared throughout your conversation.

There was silence again as you became lost in the depth of his eyes.

"WIthout your help, I would definitely be crying into a Chinese right about now." You laughed lightly your eyes still locked on his.

He smiled softly his hand slowly coming to rest on your cheek as he tilted your head up slightly.

"Then I'm glad to be of service" he whispered faintly before he closed the gap between you even further his soft lips making contact with your own. The electricity you'd felt by his touch earlier was much more intense through his kiss. You both relaxed into the his, his arms snaking around your waist as he pulled your body flush against his. Your hands rested on his chest and you let out a small whimper as your fingers found the rock hard muscles beneath his shirt.

When you both finally pulled away you were both breathless, your heart banging against your chest threatening to break your rib cage. You both laughed softly as your eyes met once more.

"That was...unexpected" you whispered breaking the silence

"Ive waited too long once before..." he excused, you could see the worry in his eyes in case he may have overstepped.

You leant up and kissed him briefly once more.

"Unexpected but...amazing" you blushed.

He beamed, satisfied with your response, slowly releasing you from his grasp. The door opened and natasha stood in the door way

"Oh hey y/N...steve" she said, a sly smirk plastered across her face.

"Youre needed inside rogers..." she concluded, giving You one more knowing smirk before turning and heading back in.

Steve took a breath and nodded

"I should go and..."

you cut him of stepping back slowly a small smile still playing on your lips.

"I should be going anyway, busy day tomorrow" you lied sliding his jacket off of your shoulders and handing it back to him.

He took it from you folding it over his arm.

"Ill see you Monday?" He asked as you turned away from him. You reached the door looking back briefly

"See you Monday" you confirmed before heading for the exit, the smile still plastered on your face. You made your way to the elevator passing Michelle on your way. She shot a glare in your direction and you mustered up the confidence for a sassy wave as you glided past her sliding happily into the elevator. You pressed the ground level button and stepped back waiting for the doors to close. And they did...but not before your eyes met Bucky's. The look on his face making your breath catch in your throat, similar to the look steve had had earlier when you had been dancing with Bucky.

Monday was going to be interesting, that was for sure


	2. Chapter 2

It was a year later when you finally returned to the Avengers tower to begin your new job. Following the party, you had received a call telling you that your mother had been taken ill and subsequently had returned home to be with her. When she passed away a few months ago your father had urged you to carry on living your life and even though to you, this seemed impossible, you were determined to make her proud.

You'd been back in New York a week when you finally got through to Miss pepper pots after what seemed like a million phone calls. You'd explained the job offer you had received over a year ago and the circumstances behind your disappearance from New York and she offered to set up a meeting with Tony himself. She repeated over and over again how she wasn't making any promises and truth be told you knew you were asking a lot from Mr stark. If it wasn't enough that he had offered you an on the spot job after seeing no resume, that you had not turned up for, you were now asking him to give you another shot.

The meeting had taken place out of the tower, you weren't sure why but pepper had assured you that this was standard. You had had a short meeting in the back of a restaurant, separated from the other diners. As soon as Mr stark had heard the reasons for your untimely departure he was more than willing to help. mr stark had definitely changed over the years he'd been iron man, the old Tony would never have agreed to meet with someone so unremarkable, a waitress that he'd spoken to for five minutes let alone find it in his heart to hear her story and subsequently offer her yet another job.

You'd been relieved and ever so grateful when he had decided to help you once more. He explained however that the original position had been filled but he was sure he could find something for you to do.

So here you were, dressed smartly in a black long sleeved dress that sat just above the knee, anxiously playing with the ends of your hair as the lady on reception typed into the computer.

"And you say your here to see Mr stark?" She questioned, peering over the top of her glasses, contemplating whether you were for real.

You nodded and she continued to tap away.

"One moment please" she said finally before getting up from her seat and exiting through a door in the back.

You relaxed your shoulders slightly as she walked away turning your back to the reception desk and taking in your surroundings. It really was an impressive building, so vast. You eyed up the other people in the lobby, most of them smartly dressed similarly to you, others in combat uniform that you presumed belonged to shield.

Maybe you should have put your hair up, that might have given a better impression. Just as you were contemplating rushing off to the bathroom to correct the situation the lady behind the desk returned and handed you a lanyard with a security pass on it.

"Top floor, Jarvis will direct you when you arrive" she explained barely giving you a second glance as she flicked through the magazine on her desk.

"Uhm...thanks" you said, taking the lanyard from the desk and walking over to the elevator.

You walked in pressing the top floor button.

"Please present your security pass" a voice said through the speakers. You looked around a little lost and noticed the scanner by the keypad. You held your pass under the scanner and the doors closed, the elevator beginning its climb to the top floor.

"Good morning, Miss Y/L/N" came a different voice.

You looked around sceptically

"I am Jarvis, here to assist you. Tony is currently in the lab but has asked you wait in the seating area to the right" he continued

"Okay, thank...you" you said unsure if you would get a response.

"Of course miss Y/L/N"

The elevator came to a stop and you hesitantly stepped out taking in your surroundings once more. It was all so familiar and yet unfamiliar at the same time. You walked to the right to find a seating area as Jarvis had described and took a seat on the edge of the chair clasping your hands together.

This was the floor the party had been on all that time ago, it looked the same except without all the 40s Decor. As you scanned the room you remembered the different moments that happened in each place, the dance with Bucky, laughing with him at the bar. Natasha taking you under her wing and that kiss...with steve. You blushed a little at the memory as a door to your left swung open and Tony stepped out. You stood immediately

"Ah, y/n glad you could make it this time" he joked raising his brows.

"Mr stark, of course, thank you again for giving me a second chance" you replied with a nervous laugh.

He weighed it up for a second

"You might want to thank pepper for that" he admitted, but you knew he was just trying to pass on the praise, unable to take it himself.

You nodded, smiling shyly in response.

"So, as I mentioned the original position has, of course been filled. BUT" he said holding his finger in the air as he began to walk obviously expecting you to follow, so you did.

"lucky for you, we're expanding..." he smiled with a shrug of his shoulders leading you to another room to the left of the elevator. Inside it was all white walls, glistening floors just as you'd remembered, but there was a huge desk that sat along the back wall. Glowing with white light and a huge "A" for avengers plastered on the front of it.

"When we first started...avenging" he explained "There were only a handful of us, easy to keep track of..."

You listened intently fidgeting with your fingers.

"But, more and more heroes keep coming through those doors, so I figured we need someone to help with schedules and keeping track of the team." He explained.

"Think of it as a receptionist...but just for the team." He finished.

You raised your brows, wow. This was not what you had been expecting.

"Wow, thank you Mr stark. Are you sure I'm right for the job, I thought I'd probably just be making tea and coffee..." you admitted slightly embarrassed "I don't have much exper..."

He cut you off with a wave of his hand.

"I'm sure there will still be lots of tea and coffee making" he agreed with a smirk

"Dont worry, you're gunna do fine. Pepper will be on call if you need her." He patted you on your shoulder and with that, he was gone.

You'd been on the desk for a week before you saw Steve or Bucky.

They had been out on a mission somewhere in Slovakia with both Natasha and Sam, which had given you time to get to know some of the other avengers and adjust to your new role. It was pretty simple really and to be honest you were pretty sure Jarvis already handled all of the things you were doing. This made you even more thankful that Tony had taken pity on you.

You'd found time to hang out with some of the team who had all been very welcoming. The team now consisted of Clint, Natasha, Tony, Rhodey, Sam, Bucky, Steve, Wanda, Vision, Thor, T'challa, Bruce and Peter although you still weren't entirely sure what his role was within the team.

Clint had taken you under his wing when you first arrived, taking it upon himself to introduce you to the rest of the team. He reminded you of one of your best friends at home, so you'd easily fallen into a comfortable friendship. T'challa didn't stay on site and so you hadn't spent much time getting to know him and the same went for Thor. Wanda and vision had kept themselves to themselves for the first few days but had eventually warmed up to you. You and Wanda had even spent some time watching reruns of friends, much to Tony's annoyance. Tony and Bruce spent most of their time in the labs, which you had been strictly told to stay clear of, but Tony still found time to torment you. He was trying to find you a nickname but was yet to find one he was fully sold on.

Then there was peter. Peter was the kindest and sweetest guy you'd ever met. He was full of enthusiasm and often hung around your desk, obviously bored with half of the team away on missions. He was still at school so wasn't around all of the time but you were always glad when he returned, usually with hilarious tales of his friends Ned and MJ.

Peter was sat on the edge of your desk when the quinjet landed beside the tower.

"They're back" he said simply, grinning from ear to ear.

Your stomach flipped as you realised what he meant by that and you straightened up in your chair causing him to shake his head with a smile.

"Shut up" you said simply pretending to look busy.

It wasn't 30 seconds later when Steve, Bucky, Natasha and Sam exited the elevator and into the new reception of the top floor. You made the mistake of looking up, swallowing thickly as you took in their appearance. The last time you'd seen them they had all been in evening attire and while that was hard enough to resist, this was much much worse.

Steve was in his full captain America uniform, his suit a dark navy with a white star clad across his chest. His shield positioned on his back, his thumbs hooked in the band of his trousers and a small amount of stubble upon his chin.

Bucky was dressed in dark clothing too, his leather jacket revealing his silver and gold arm. His hair was slightly longer than the last time you'd seen him and was brushed over to the side.

Sam was in his full tactile gear also, his falcon wings still strapped to his back and natasha looked incredible in her tight fitting gear, her hair cropped and blonde as opposed to the red hair she'd had at the party.

All of them were covered head to toe with various weapons. A few cuts and bruises littered their exposed skin that was on show. It seemed like it had been a rough mission, Natasha seemed to be limping ever so slightly.

You cleared your throat to stop yourself from gawking turning your attention to peter to continue your "looking busy" approach. Natasha was the first to spot you her eyes widening.

"Only took you a year..." she hummed sauntering over to the desk. You looked up a smile falling over your features

"Hey...yeah, its a long story" You admitted

She nodded in response

"Well I'm glad you finally made it" she offered, turning back to look at the rest of the team

"Look fellas...Y/n is here" she almost sang looking between you and the super soldiers.

You followed her eye-line making eye contact with steve, offering him a small shy smile.

He cleared his throat, his features remaining serious as he approached the desk.

"Miss (Y/L/N)" he addressed you, causing a frown to immediately flood your features.

He placed a briefcase on your desk matter of factly.

"Please make sure Fury gets this. Wouldn't want it getting in the wrong hands" he said curtly with a nod before walking Cooley away.

You were in shock. This was not the steve you had met at the party, this was Captain Rogers. Why had he addressed you as miss (Y/L/N) ? What had you done to deserve that reception? Was he mad that you'd been gone for a year? Did he hate you now? You looked to Natasha, but she just shrugged.

"Hey Y/N" Bucky finally spoke up staying in his position by the door.

"Bucky" you replied your eyes soft, a mix of happiness and hurt.

He allowed a half smile to fall over him before following in the direction steve had gone.

Silence.

"Ouch. I do not know what you've done to piss them off, but I would not want to be in your shoes right now, let me tell you that" said Sam a little too cheerily.

He walked over to the desk to stand beside Natasha.

"its good to see you Y/n" he said with a genuine smile.

"Thanks Sam, I'm glad someone is." You sighed.

"Hey. Two people are" Natasha defended "So half...that's not bad going" she wagered.

Peter let out a small chuckle to the side of her.

"Hey Y/n" Natasha started "Did peter tell you that he's Spider-Man yet?" She said casually, winking at him as she strutted out of the room.

Sam followed obviously just enjoying all the drama.

Peter froze, looking at you.

"Youre Spider-Man?! " you asked in disbelief

"Uhm...No?" He tried.


	3. Chapter 3

It was a year later when you finally returned to the Avengers tower to begin your new job. Following the party, you had received a call telling you that your mother had been taken ill and subsequently had returned home to be with her. When she passed away a few months ago your father had urged you to carry on living your life and even though to you, this seemed impossible, you were determined to make her proud.

You'd been back in New York a week when you finally got through to Miss pepper pots after what seemed like a million phone calls. You'd explained the job offer you had received over a year ago and the circumstances behind your disappearance from New York and she offered to set up a meeting with Tony himself. She repeated over and over again how she wasn't making any promises and truth be told you knew you were asking a lot from Mr stark. If it wasn't enough that he had offered you an on the spot job after seeing no resume, that you had not turned up for, you were now asking him to give you another shot.

The meeting had taken place out of the tower, you weren't sure why but pepper had assured you that this was standard. You had had a short meeting in the back of a restaurant, separated from the other diners. As soon as Mr stark had heard the reasons for your untimely departure he was more than willing to help. mr stark had definitely changed over the years he'd been iron man, the old Tony would never have agreed to meet with someone so unremarkable, a waitress that he'd spoken to for five minutes let alone find it in his heart to hear her story and subsequently offer her yet another job.

You'd been relieved and ever so grateful when he had decided to help you once more. He explained however that the original position had been filled but he was sure he could find something for you to do.

So here you were, dressed smartly in a black long sleeved dress that sat just above the knee, anxiously playing with the ends of your hair as the lady on reception typed into the computer.

"And you say your here to see Mr stark?" She questioned, peering over the top of her glasses, contemplating whether you were for real.

You nodded and she continued to tap away.

"One moment please" she said finally before getting up from her seat and exiting through a door in the back.

You relaxed your shoulders slightly as she walked away turning your back to the reception desk and taking in your surroundings. It really was an impressive building, so vast. You eyed up the other people in the lobby, most of them smartly dressed similarly to you, others in combat uniform that you presumed belonged to shield.

Maybe you should have put your hair up, that might have given a better impression. Just as you were contemplating rushing off to the bathroom to correct the situation the lady behind the desk returned and handed you a lanyard with a security pass on it.

"Top floor, Jarvis will direct you when you arrive" she explained barely giving you a second glance as she flicked through the magazine on her desk.

"Uhm...thanks" you said, taking the lanyard from the desk and walking over to the elevator.

You walked in pressing the top floor button.

"Please present your security pass" a voice said through the speakers. You looked around a little lost and noticed the scanner by the keypad. You held your pass under the scanner and the doors closed, the elevator beginning its climb to the top floor.

"Good morning, Miss Y/L/N" came a different voice.

You looked around sceptically

"I am Jarvis, here to assist you. Tony is currently in the lab but has asked you wait in the seating area to the right" he continued

"Okay, thank...you" you said unsure if you would get a response.

"Of course miss Y/L/N"

The elevator came to a stop and you hesitantly stepped out taking in your surroundings once more. It was all so familiar and yet unfamiliar at the same time. You walked to the right to find a seating area as Jarvis had described and took a seat on the edge of the chair clasping your hands together.

This was the floor the party had been on all that time ago, it looked the same except without all the 40s Decor. As you scanned the room you remembered the different moments that happened in each place, the dance with Bucky, laughing with him at the bar. Natasha taking you under her wing and that kiss...with steve. You blushed a little at the memory as a door to your left swung open and Tony stepped out. You stood immediately

"Ah, y/n glad you could make it this time" he joked raising his brows.

"Mr stark, of course, thank you again for giving me a second chance" you replied with a nervous laugh.

He weighed it up for a second

"You might want to thank pepper for that" he admitted, but you knew he was just trying to pass on the praise, unable to take it himself.

You nodded, smiling shyly in response.

"So, as I mentioned the original position has, of course been filled. BUT" he said holding his finger in the air as he began to walk obviously expecting you to follow, so you did.

"lucky for you, we're expanding..." he smiled with a shrug of his shoulders leading you to another room to the left of the elevator. Inside it was all white walls, glistening floors just as you'd remembered, but there was a huge desk that sat along the back wall. Glowing with white light and a huge "A" for avengers plastered on the front of it.

"When we first started...avenging" he explained "There were only a handful of us, easy to keep track of..."

You listened intently fidgeting with your fingers.

"But, more and more heroes keep coming through those doors, so I figured we need someone to help with schedules and keeping track of the team." He explained.

"Think of it as a receptionist...but just for the team." He finished.

You raised your brows, wow. This was not what you had been expecting.

"Wow, thank you Mr stark. Are you sure I'm right for the job, I thought I'd probably just be making tea and coffee..." you admitted slightly embarrassed "I don't have much exper..."

He cut you off with a wave of his hand.

"I'm sure there will still be lots of tea and coffee making" he agreed with a smirk

"Dont worry, you're gunna do fine. Pepper will be on call if you need her." He patted you on your shoulder and with that, he was gone.

You'd been on the desk for a week before you saw Steve or Bucky.

They had been out on a mission somewhere in Slovakia with both Natasha and Sam, which had given you time to get to know some of the other avengers and adjust to your new role. It was pretty simple really and to be honest you were pretty sure Jarvis already handled all of the things you were doing. This made you even more thankful that Tony had taken pity on you.

You'd found time to hang out with some of the team who had all been very welcoming. The team now consisted of Clint, Natasha, Tony, Rhodey, Sam, Bucky, Steve, Wanda, Vision, Thor, T'challa, Bruce and Peter although you still weren't entirely sure what his role was within the team.

Clint had taken you under his wing when you first arrived, taking it upon himself to introduce you to the rest of the team. He reminded you of one of your best friends at home, so you'd easily fallen into a comfortable friendship. T'challa didn't stay on site and so you hadn't spent much time getting to know him and the same went for Thor. Wanda and vision had kept themselves to themselves for the first few days but had eventually warmed up to you. You and Wanda had even spent some time watching reruns of friends, much to Tony's annoyance. Tony and Bruce spent most of their time in the labs, which you had been strictly told to stay clear of, but Tony still found time to torment you. He was trying to find you a nickname but was yet to find one he was fully sold on.

Then there was peter. Peter was the kindest and sweetest guy you'd ever met. He was full of enthusiasm and often hung around your desk, obviously bored with half of the team away on missions. He was still at school so wasn't around all of the time but you were always glad when he returned, usually with hilarious tales of his friends Ned and MJ.

Peter was sat on the edge of your desk when the quinjet landed beside the tower.

"They're back" he said simply, grinning from ear to ear.

Your stomach flipped as you realised what he meant by that and you straightened up in your chair causing him to shake his head with a smile.

"Shut up" you said simply pretending to look busy.

It wasn't 30 seconds later when Steve, Bucky, Natasha and Sam exited the elevator and into the new reception of the top floor. You made the mistake of looking up, swallowing thickly as you took in their appearance. The last time you'd seen them they had all been in evening attire and while that was hard enough to resist, this was much much worse.

Steve was in his full captain America uniform, his suit a dark navy with a white star clad across his chest. His shield positioned on his back, his thumbs hooked in the band of his trousers and a small amount of stubble upon his chin.

Bucky was dressed in dark clothing too, his leather jacket revealing his silver and gold arm. His hair was slightly longer than the last time you'd seen him and was brushed over to the side.

Sam was in his full tactile gear also, his falcon wings still strapped to his back and natasha looked incredible in her tight fitting gear, her hair cropped and blonde as opposed to the red hair she'd had at the party.

All of them were covered head to toe with various weapons. A few cuts and bruises littered their exposed skin that was on show. It seemed like it had been a rough mission, Natasha seemed to be limping ever so slightly.

You cleared your throat to stop yourself from gawking turning your attention to peter to continue your "looking busy" approach. Natasha was the first to spot you her eyes widening.

"Only took you a year..." she hummed sauntering over to the desk. You looked up a smile falling over your features

"Hey...yeah, its a long story" You admitted

She nodded in response

"Well I'm glad you finally made it" she offered, turning back to look at the rest of the team

"Look fellas...Y/n is here" she almost sang looking between you and the super soldiers.

You followed her eye-line making eye contact with steve, offering him a small shy smile.

He cleared his throat, his features remaining serious as he approached the desk.

"Miss (Y/L/N)" he addressed you, causing a frown to immediately flood your features.

He placed a briefcase on your desk matter of factly.

"Please make sure Fury gets this. Wouldn't want it getting in the wrong hands" he said curtly with a nod before walking Cooley away.

You were in shock. This was not the steve you had met at the party, this was Captain Rogers. Why had he addressed you as miss (Y/L/N) ? What had you done to deserve that reception? Was he mad that you'd been gone for a year? Did he hate you now? You looked to Natasha, but she just shrugged.

"Hey Y/N" Bucky finally spoke up staying in his position by the door.

"Bucky" you replied your eyes soft, a mix of happiness and hurt.

He allowed a half smile to fall over him before following in the direction steve had gone.

Silence.

"Ouch. I do not know what you've done to piss them off, but I would not want to be in your shoes right now, let me tell you that" said Sam a little too cheerily.

He walked over to the desk to stand beside Natasha.

"its good to see you Y/n" he said with a genuine smile.

"Thanks Sam, I'm glad someone is." You sighed.

"Hey. Two people are" Natasha defended "So half...that's not bad going" she wagered.

Peter let out a small chuckle to the side of her.

"Hey Y/n" Natasha started "Did peter tell you that he's Spider-Man yet?" She said casually, winking at him as she strutted out of the room.

Sam followed obviously just enjoying all the drama.

Peter froze, looking at you.

"Youre Spider-Man?! " you asked in disbelief

"Uhm...No?" He tried.


	4. Chapter 4

Bucky watched as you followed Natasha to the matts his eyes connecting with Steves. That's when he knew they had both fallen for you, he didn't know how or why. There had been so few encounters between you all, some of them a year ago and yet the attraction and connection that both of them felt for you and you for them was undeniable.

Steve put his arm across his back patting him on the shoulder in mutual understanding as they followed you and Natasha.

"I know pal...I know" steve said with a sigh.

Natasha had shown you about a dozen self defence moves. This was more your speed and you were getting the hang of it pretty quickly. She soon decided it was time to test them out.

You looked over to the two super soldiers, weighing up your options, but Natasha made the decision for you.

"Barnes, you're up" she announced stepping aside.

"remember take it slow, and only go at her in the ways I've shown her to defend herself" she explained.

He nodded slowly as he joined you on the Matt, flexing his metal hand as he got into position. Intimidating was not a strong enough word to describe how Bucky barnes looked right now. But he wore it well and you could feel that familiar acceleration of your heart rate as he got closer to you.

What had you gotten yourself into? Half an hour of self defence and you were up against the winter soldier. You scoffed silently to yourself at the thought and readied yourself for the attack.

He took it slow at first twisting your arm up behind your back. He was so close to you, closer than he had been before, his breath on your neck causing you to lose concentration. Focus, focus. You scolded yourself. You thought back to what Natasha had taught you and performed the manoeuvres as best as you could remember.

Somehow ten minutes in, you had managed to get the winter solider on his back, straddling his chest his arms pinned under your knees. You were out of breathe, that was for sure and had Bucky actually been trying to take you out you'd have stood no chance. You grinned down at him in victory, feeling slightly smug.

"You okay there soldier?" You teased receiving a laugh from both Steve and Natasha. Bucky rewarded with you with a genuine smile, which slowly seemed to fade as he became lost in his thoughts.

Suddenly the world flipped upside down and your back hit the coolness of the Matt, Bucky on top of you, his weight almost crushing you. You took a deep breath laughing lightly from your compromising position

"Easy there doll, don't get ahead of yourself" he almost growled smirking down at you.

Dear god, you were so turned on right now. There was nothing that was going to bring those self defence moves back the front of your mind anytime soon, you relented, holding in a whimper as he climbed off of you.

Natasha clapped her hands together making you jump, bringing you back to reality.

"So I think that's enough for today" she said cutting through the silence.

You breathed a sigh of relief, you were exhausted and you weren't sure you could take much more of the sexual tension.

"You okay there y/n?" Steve asked holding out his hand to help you up. You took it willingly, familiar electricity running down your arm.

"Yeah fine, we don't all have super soldier stamina you know..." you quipped with a smile.

"So were back to Y/n?" You asked as you all headed towards the exit.

He thought for a moment, a flash of guilt washing over his expression as he remembered how he'd spoken to you when he'd first seen you again.

"I guess we are..." he said with a half smile, his mind becoming distracted.

You looked to Bucky who shared the same smile as steve, talk about team building. Maybe things were going to be okay.

it was 2:30 in the afternoon, you were tapping away at the keyboard at your desk trying to be useful, which was difficult when the job you were doing didn't actually need doing.

You'd already logged where the team were going to be for the day and transferred at least a dozen calls and if you were being honest with yourself. This was pointless. You were going to have to speak to Tony. Not only did you feel bad for the free lodging and the generous wages that you were receiving but you felt like you could be doing more.

There had to be more. Right? On paper, working as a private receptionist for Tony stark and the rest of the avengers sounded amazing especially with all the perks it came with but you were restless and fidgety. Sure the self defence lessons and target practice were great when there was someone around to practice with, but day to day you were starting to feel like a waste of space. The team were off on missions or creating and designing in the lab, making a real difference.

You leant back in your chair inhaling deeply as you pondered your thoughts. Ofcourse you were always going to feel like an outsider amongst these Gods and Heroes, you'd been silly to think otherwise. You were their receptionist, not their equal and as much as they tried to include you, thats just how it was and always would be.

You pushed yourself up from your chair straightening out your dress. Maybe a coffee would help lift your spirits. You wandered through the hallways until you reached the main living area. No one was around and that was probably a good thing. You weren't sure you'd be able to muster up so much as a smile let alone a conversation with the way you were feeling.

"Everything okay?" came the deep tones of the captain from the seating area when you were about half way through your coffee making process.

"Oh, Hey steve" you said in surprise. you must have been miles away in your thoughts not have noticed him.

"ofcourse-" you continued adding another heaped teaspoon of sugar to your cup. "Just trying to keep busy" you added forcing a smile as you stirred absentmindedly.

He considered your reply for a moment before placing down what you thought to be a sketch book on the side and climbing to his feet. He wandered over to the other side of the breakfast bar resting his forearms across the surface as he read your expression.

You slid your hands around your coffee mug, enjoying the warmth and allowed your eyes to study his.

"You know, Im going to the Smithsonian this afternoon to gather some intelligence on some of the staff. When we took down strucker, his staff scattered. We've had a tip off that some of them may be working at the Smithsonian..." he explained

"-And you want to know why?" you finished taking a large sip of your overly sugared coffee.

"exactly" he said, a twinkle in his eye. "want to come?" he asked with a raise of his brow.

You stood up a little straighter slightly confused.

"Isn't this a mission?" you asked.

He tilted his head as he spoke "You could say that, but I need to blend in. Having you there will only help assist in that"

You thought about it for a moment, a slow smile taking over your features, maybe being a regular civilian could still be useful.

"Sure, why not?" You agreed placing your mug in the sink.

He stood to his full height again towering above you once more.

"Be ready in 10, Ill meet you in the parking lot" he said in his cap voice.

you couldn't help but let out a nervous laugh standing to attention and saluting him.

"Roger that , Captain" you joked lowering your voice before heading to your room to get changed.

You didn't catch the smile that flooded his features as you walked away, or the deep breath he took before following you out.

10 minutes later you wandered into the parking lot expectantly looking around for any sign of steve. You'd chosen a light blue tea dress paired with a leather jacket and ankle boots. You'd released your hair from the tight bun you'd worn for "work" and it now fell in loose curls around your shoulders.

You heard the roar of an engine as steve rounded the corner on his Harley. Okay so maybe you'd have dressed differently if you'd known this was to be your method of transport.

"Ready?" He asked simply, that soft smirk lingering on his lips. He wore a dark blue jacket with a plain white tee beneath it and he was breathtaking, especially sat astride the bike.

You smiled nervously as you eyed up the Harley.

"Uhm...yeah" you breathed as he passed you a helmet, even though he wasn't wearing one. Just one of the benefits of being a super soldier you supposed as you pulled it on. Great. Hat hair. You climbed onto the back as gracefully as you could manage as the bike roared to life once more.

"Probably best if you hold on..." he whispered with a knowing smile. You nodded in agreement and slid your hands around his waist shuffling a little closer to him, your breath hitching at the contact.

And then you were off. No more time to appreciate the abs you could feel beneath your fingers or the scent of his cologne that always made your head swim. You screwed your eyes up tightly at first only daring to take peak a couple of minutes in. Your knuckles were white where you clutched onto his tee, your face pressed into the back of his jacket

"Alright back there?" He almost yelled trying to be heard above the engine.

"Mhmmm...hmmm" you managed receiving a laugh in return.

10 minutes in and you were finding your feet, he rode well and the journey was smooth. You felt safe with your arms tight around him and you'd managed to relax enough to take in the scenery around you.

By the time you arrived at the Smithsonian you'd decided riding on the back of Steves Harley was one of your favourite things to do. It wasn't just that you had an excuse to be close to him, but you found the whole thing exhilarating. Perhaps there was an adrenaline junkie buried somewhere deep down after all.

The bike came to a steady stop and he kicked out the kickstand propping it up, waiting for you to climb off. You released his shirt from your grip and slid off the bike patting down your dress as best as you could. You pulled the bike helmet off and glared at steve knowing your fate. And true enough the minute his eyes caught site of you he was laughing.

Your hair was all over the place, flat to your head in some parts and frizzy everywhere else. You had no idea how some girls managed to make riding a bike look sexy, you were not one of those girls. Not by a long shot. Luckily Steve wasn't fazed by your crazy hair and lifted his hand pushing the loose strands out of your eyes.

He smiled down at you with a sense of adoration in his eyes that this time you didn't miss. The familiar red blushed your cheeks as you cleared your throat taking a step back as Sharon flashed through your mind.

"Come on..." he said holding his arm out to you. "Lets go read about...well me" he said with a shrug.

You took his arm willingly as you started towards the museum.

"We're going to the Captain America part?!" You asked, the fan girl in you surfacing a little bit.

He let out an easy laugh

"I'm afraid so.." he admitted as you wandered in to the lobby. He placed a baseball cap on causing you to snicker absentmindedly.

"Whats so funny?" He asked slightly confused.

"Is that supposed to be a disguise?" You laughed "-because I gotta tell you cap, you just look like Captain America in a baseball cap"

He shrugged "you'd be surprised how often this works" he whispered as you neared the front desk.

"Two please" he said keeping his head low as he paid for your tickets.

Steve had left you to your own devices for 20 minutes or so while he did the official part of the "mission", so you had made yourself busy reading up on his past and watching the various videos that were on display.

You were sat in the viewing room watching a video of the howling commandos on a rescue mission on the outskirts of Vienna when Steve rejoined you. You hadn't noticed him come in as you watched him and Bucky interact with each other on screen. It warmed your heart to watch them together, they were so in sync. Protecting each other at all costs, laughing and joking with one another when they could.

"you ready to go?" He whispered. You jumped slightly but didn't take your eyes off the screen as you held your hand up to shush him. You didn't want to be rude but you too were enthralled with the videos to leave now.

"Five more minutes?" You asked, noticing how much you sounded like a child who didn't want to leave the play ground. Steve smiled to himself as he watched your expression with interest , your eyes locked onto the screen. Then he heard her. Peggy. She was speaking about Steve in the past tense. He was in the ice when this had been recorded and her voice was filled with sadness which he still found painful to listen to.

You leant back in your seat as your hand subconsciously found Steves, giving it a light squeeze of support. You had felt the atmosphere change when Peggy had come on screen and you couldn't even begin to understand how hard it must be to hear her voice. She was beautiful, you noted. Strong and beautiful and everything that you would have expected the love of his life to be.

"She was beautiful" you whispered softly your eyes falling from the screen to steve.

He brushed off your sentiment climbing to his feet taking a deep inhale of breathe and holding out his hand to you.

"Lets go..." he said, unable to hide the sadness in his tone.

You struggled to keep up as he almost ran through the museum to the exit. Once you got back into the main area of the museum you put your hand on his shoulder to stop him.

"Steve" you breathed as he turned to face you.

He took another deep breath finally looking up to meet your eyes

"I'm sorry..." he said with a sigh receiving only a frown from you.

"You're allowed to be sad Steve... she was the love of your life" you said placing your hand on his arm "Even Heroes need time to mourn"

He contemplated it for a moment

"She was happy." He finally spoke, his voice cracking "and honestly thats all I could have asked for, given the circumstances." he admitted

You nodded in understanding, your hand slipping down his arm until your it joined with his as a sign of support.

"She had a life Steve and it's okay for you to have yours..."

He gave your hand a little squeeze as a thank you, suddenly adjusting himself and shaking away the moment.

"Hungry?" He asked changing the subject.

"Starving" you replied still gripping on to his hand. He may have tried to shake it off, but it was still in your thoughts. You could see the pain he was in and even though day to day he put on the brave face of captain America, underneath it all, Steve needed your support.

You both decided it had been a long day and take out back at the tower would be preferable to going out for food. When you pulled back up at the tower Sharon was waiting for steve at the door, arms folded, foot tapping.

You bit your lip feeling anxious on his behalf.

"Ill...uhm...see you inside" you said quickly climbing off the bike and heading towards the door giving Sharon a friendly smile as you neared her.

"Hi Sharon." You said casually trying to lighten the mood. Steve needed support right now and you could only hope she would be kind to him.

She didn't reply but gave a nod in your direction which was a better response than you had expected. With that, you left them alone and headed back in to the tower.

It was 3am when you woke to the noise of screaming. It was the most spine-chilling scream you'd ever heard and had you on your feet in seconds rushing to the door of your apartment. You tried to decipher where it was coming from and thats when you realised, it was Bucky.

You ran through the corridors needing to get to him, to reach him, to help. You could feel the tears prick your eyes as he yelled out agonising and torturous howls. You reached his door pushing it open without a seconds thought and rushing to his side.

"Bucky...Bucky" you breathed, the distress evident in your voice.

He was asleep. He was crying out in his sleep and it was excruciating to listen to.

You took his hand in yours stroking up and down his arm attempting to wake him up.

"Shhh...Bucky its okay...bucky" you whispered but to no avail. You allowed the tears to escape now as you shifted over holding onto him tightly. "Its going to be okay..." you said trying to calm yourself down at the same time. You sobbed onto his chest sharing his pain until his screaming stopped abruptly.

"Bucky?" You asked again propping yourself up, your hand reaching for his cheek.

He didn't reply. Silence. Just as your hand made contact with the stubbled skin of his cheek...

You felt pain. So much pain and the coolness of metal. He had hold of your wrist.

It was your turn to scream now, a scream of both shock and of agony as your eyes looked to him pleadingly.

"Bucky...stop Bucky , you're hurting me" you whimpered but he wasn't letting go.

Steve rounded the corner into Bucky's room upon hearing your screams as a sickening crunch rang out across the room, your bones giving way under the pressure.

"Y/n?!" He asked a mix of fear and concern in his eyes as you screamed for help.

As quickly as he realised what was happening he had Bucky in a choke hold, his knee pinning the metal arm down as he compressed his wind pipe.

Bucky let out a choking noise and you noticed the smallest bit of recognition in his eyes before he passed out from lack of oxygen finally releasing your arm.

You threw yourself backwards as soon as you were free falling back into a heap on the floor holding onto your wounded arm as the tears ran uncontrollably down your cheeks.

Steve released Bucky satisfied he was down for the moment, his eyes swimming with fear as they locked on to your crumbled form.

"Y/n" he stammered.

You jumped to your feet, a sudden need to be anywhere else but in Bucky's room. You sprinted down the halls clutching your arm to your chest, tears stinging your now reddened face. You could hear some of the other Avengers coming out of their living quarters wandering what was going on but you just ran, ran until you reached your room and were safely behind the now locked door hidden from site.

You allowed yourself to sink to the floor as you choked on air and tears, your back to the door. not a moment had gone by when there was a knock on the door.

"Y/n?"

It was steve.

You didn't reply, you didn't have any words.

"Y/n, I need you to open the door...please"

You'd made the decision not to let him in but hearing the worry in his "Please" forced you to stand, opening the door, your head low in an attempt to hide your tears.

"Oh god...sweetheart" he soothed pulling you into his chest.

Once you were in his arms you sobbed freely unable to hide your pain. He didn't push, he just held you, stroking your hair as you cried into him, wishing he could fix everything you were feeling.

10 minutes went by before you had finally calmed down enough to hold a conversation. You'd moved to sit down on the sofa, your entire body still shaking from shock. He sat by your side, his hand on the bare skin of your knee drawing invisible circles with his thumb in an attempt to comfort you.

"Y/n, it wasn't him" he said in a whisper.

"I know"

"He has nightmares, of hydra, of the years he spent as their weapon and when he wakes up, it takes a moment for Bucky to be Bucky again..."

"I wanted to help him, he was in so much pain" you cried, tears forming again.

"Hey, shhh...I know, I know. But the best thing you can do for Bucky when he's like that is give him space doll." he sighed running his hand through his hair, his other arm sliding behind your back and pulling you into his side gently.

You moved willingly into his arms yet again, sobbing on to his shoulder.

"I should have warned you" he added.

"Its not your fault"

"If you'd been warned then this wouldn't have happened" he said gesturing to your wrist.

You lifted your head placing your hand on his cheek lifting his head to look you in the eyes.

"not everything is your fault, steve"

His eyes matched the sadness of yours, guilt plaguing him as it often did.

There was a long pause between you, no more words to say. An unspoken conversation said with only your eyes and then his lips were on yours.

The kiss was soft, sad and brief. It was over before it had really begun as Sharon interrupted the moment again, in spirit this time.

"We should get that checked out" he said nodding towards your wrist before helping to your feet.

"I'm okay, I'll go and find Bruce...please go, find Bucky, make sure he's okay?" You asked concern dictating your tone.

He nodded with a small sad smile at the compassion and concern you held for his best friend.

"Ill come and find you in a bit" you finished walking with him to the door. He paused momentarily, his mind racing , before he placed a long and gentle kiss to your forehead.

He turned away without a word heading back into the darkened hallway.

Deep breath.

What a day.


End file.
